No
one can read the Bible in a thoughtful way without being impressed with
the fact that it makes much of manhood, and holds it up as something that
should be sought after with diligence and perseverance.

In
fact the Bible exalts and emphasizes manhood in a remarkable way, and shows
that real manhood is a great thing in the world. The book of Genesis contains
sixty chapters and covers 2,300 years of human history, and yet one half
of it is devoted to telling us about the colossal manhood of Abraham, and
a third to that of Joseph.

The
story of creation is told in 800 words, but a great deal more space is
given to the story of Caleb's rugged manhood. A whole book is occupied
with the story of Job, and another with that of Daniel, while long chapters
here and there tell us of other men who are safe examples to follow.

God
has thus shown very plainly what He considered important by where He has
put the italics. The Lord is not a respecter of persons, but He is
a respecter of character, and a very good respecter of it, too. Indeed,
He does more than respect it. He admires it.

Hear
his admiration of the character of Job, in the strongest language that
even God can use, in declaring, "He is perfect!"

Abraham
towers like mountains above molehills when he pushes aside the spoils of
the unrighteous king of Sodom, lest he should say that Abraham was depending
on him. Look at Daniel keeping himself pure in that pestilential
palace. Look at David.

We
are also told that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and
that he delighteth in his way, and this, I take it, means in plain English,
that God loves to watch a real man go out and grow.

Let
me ask you to note, first of all, that David wanted Solomon to be anchored
to a noble purpose. He didn't want the young man to drift along in
an aimless way, like a log in a whirlpool, but he wanted him to have, his
eye set on something for which it would be worth his while to spend every
energy to reach.

And
so with his dying breath he said, "Don't be a mere floater, my son.
Don't be a drifter on the stream of time, but stem the current that would
carry you down, but be a man".

David
himself had been a man of high and lofty purpose. His own life must
have been greatly influenced by the character of Moses and the other mighty
men of God who had preceded him. That his aim was high and his purpose
lofty is clearly evident from his life and his writings.

It
is not an accident that he went from the sheep fold to the throne.
Success like that never comes about by mere chance. One reason why
there are so many bones bleaching along the highway of life is those who
once started out with bright and shining faces never expect to go anywhere
in particular.

David
was faithful to all his duties as a shepherd, but he looked higher than
that humble calling, and made it a stepping stone. While a shepherd
he improved his opportunities, trained his powers and qualified himself
to be a king.

David
was anxious that Solomon should have a high aim. He wanted him to reach
out for the top of the mountain. He didn't want him to be content
with a summer house in the valley. He wanted him to own the very
best estate in the country where the giants were.

He
didn't want him to be an old woman or a sissy sort of a fellow, but a man
with knotted muscles on his arms, a big heart in his body and plenty of
matter in his head. He wanted him to aim high, as a king's son should,
knowing that if his aim was high his endeavor would not be wasted.

He
wanted his son to raise his chin high enough to look the sun in the face,
and so he said, "Solomon, be a man"!

Manhood
- true manhood - princely manhood, like that of David, is one of the grandest
things in the world, and it is something that counts as nothing else does.

It
does not depend upon the size of the body. There are men of small
stature, like St. Paul and Napoleon, who tower above other men as the mountains
above the plain, and there are physical giants who are middle weights in
manhood.

Samson
was a giant in stature and a baby in self-control. It was not the Philistines
who destroyed Samson. It was Samson himself.

The
man who is able to say "no" whenever it should be said is walking in a
way that will lead straight to his own good.

Strive
to be strong in self-control by making timely decisions about what you
are going to do about such important matters as temperance, morality and
religion.

Settle
the question very early that your life shall be directed by principles
and not by impulse.

If
you are not willing to deliberately take the risk of becoming a good-for-nothing
sot, settle the question at once and finally that you will never take your
first drink. Not to do this is to have about half decided that you
will yield when the temptation comes. It means that you have concluded
that you may yield, and so the probability is great that you will.

If
you are not willing to take the risk of becoming a social outcast, decide
as Joseph did long before he reached Potiphar's house that you will have
a white life.

Boys
take an example from their father. Every man's some boy's hero.
Some fathers are woefully deficient, their sparker and gasoline don't work
either. They can't make the grade. If every man lived light
today, no boy would go to hell tomorrow.

To
be a man means to he strong in purpose and self-control. If your
manhood is buried under doubt, dig it out. There's a Gettysburg in every
man's life which he has to fight. To be ready is half the secret
of success.

Having
oil or no oil in your lamp is the difference between light and darkness,
between happiness and despair.

If
you are not willing to run the risk of losing your soul take the only step
that can make it safe by taking Christ into your heart and life at once.
Join the church of your choice and commit yourself to a religious life.

Decision
determines what life is to become for every man in this world, and also
decides it for eternity. If you do not want to deliberately build
your house on the sand, where it is but a question of time as to when destruction
will come, decide that you will never go in bad company, for no other one
thing will have more to do with your weal or woe than the company you keep.

The
man who lets the devil choose his company for him will soon do anything
the devil wants him to do.

Strive
for self control by forming good habits before bad ones fasten themselves
upon you. A thread can be broken, but a rope will hang you.

Before
you get into the hopper take a look at the grist that is coming out.

Be
prudent by learning your own strength and weakness, as a wise general knows
his army. Be prudent in speech, for many a fine career has been cut
short by a long tongue. Be prudent in making the best possible preparation
for the thing you set out to accomplish.

Start
out in life as you would set out for the North Pole. First make sure
that you are ready and then go straight on with confidence.

Be
prudent by keeping as far from the edge of every precipice as you can.
Don't fool with temptation or trifle with sin, for the man who keeps on
putting his head in the lion's mouth every day is certain to have his breathing
interfered with sooner or later.

Get
the best training and culture possible. Remember that knowledge is
power, and try to obtain your share of it. There is no excuse for
ignorance in this day, when colleges are everywhere, and books seem to
almost grow on trees.

If
you are a young man get a college education if you have to live on oatmeal
and sorghum molasses to do it. First get understanding and you may have
everything else you want.

The
life of the uneducated man is like that of a mole living in the dark, while
that of the man with culture is like the eagle, mounting above the clouds
and soaring towards the sun.

Take
the great men of the Bible and stand before them long enough to realize
how great they were, and then ask yourself what there was in them that
you ought to have in you, and then spend some time every day in considering
the man who had in himself the great and manly qualities of them all in
a superlative degree - the divine man - the God man - the man of Galilee.

Learn
how to behold as in a glass His glory and so be changed into His likeness
from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord. Let your soul go
out to Him and be filled with Him, and you will soon begin to see that
everything that is not like Him is unmanly and mean. As Solomon studied
and meditated upon the beautiful life of David, his father, so give time
and thought and prayer in striving to be like the divinepattern
that is shown to you in the perfect Man. Spend three months in studying
His life on its man ward side, and you will have a more exalted knowledge
of what it means to be a man than you ever before possessed. A knowledge
that will quicken and inspire you to live for God and man as you never
lived before.

Study
the purpose of Christ and notice that He never once swerved from the business
for which He came into the world, although Gethsemane and Calvary lay directly
in His way. By a very little veering to one side He could have missed
them both, but He set His face like a flint and went up to Jerusalem when
He knew that to go would mean suffering and death.

Study
His prudence and courage and you will also find it true of His self control,
faithfulness, charity, unselfishness, benevolence and sympathy. Find anything
in any man anywhere that everybody considers noble and manly, and then
look for the same thing in Jesus, and see how it shines out in Him as the
day above the twilight. He never shows the white feather, and never
in his whole life does He speak onesingle
unmanly word, think an unmanly thought or do an unmanly deed.

Surely
this man was the Son of God and the most glorious promise for us ever given
that when He shall appear we shall be like Him. "Be thou strong,
therefore, and show thyself a man."